Imogen Heap

I chose to take the same method as last week and ask Facebook fans for mashup submissions, so make sure you’re a fan of the Sunset Facebook page and keep an eye out on Monday for the posts that call for submissions. It’s worked pretty well so far, so I might keep doing that. Shout out to all my homies over there (Anthony, Garrett, Josh, Elisha, and Mike) who submitted songs. We got some fire right hurr. Also, some of these are remixes rather than mashups, but they were too good to ignore, so I put them in here. Hit the jump to hear all of the songs.

1. Midnight Swimming (M83 x Kendrick Lamar) – Patombomb

2. One Day I’ll Be Rich Enough To Buy You All (Rihanna x Rise Against) – Dr. Brixx

So those of you who stay privy to national disasters will be aware of the ridiculous amount of snow that was just dumped upon my hometown of Chicago. Anyway, everything kind of shut down, people kind of lost their minds, it was crazy. Biggest blizzard in decades. That being said, I completely forgot to do a Womp Womp Wednesday post. Take this as my apology, and rage extra hard this weekend listening to these tracks. GO STEELERS!

Ok so I don’t even really know how to describe this one. I’ve been meaning to put it on a Womp Womp Wednesday post for quite some time, but I’ve always been at a lack for words. And I guess that’s the best way to describe this one. Listen, and you’ll be at a loss for words. Just absolutely filth, the noises Splatinum and Mochipet combine to make on this track are just indescribably dirty. Listen, I guess, because I can’t even describe this. People go NUTS when I play this live.

So there are some acapellas that just seem like they should be made into filthy dubstep tracks. The problem is, if you’re going to take one of those acapellas and make it into dubstep, you better do it well, or it will just be a big disappointment. I’ve waited to hear a good Imogen Heap dub remix, and Roksonix was the first to step up and supply. I like the fact that he lets the acapella shine, which is an asset because Imogen Heap is just brilliantly talented and original, but Roksonix was the first to deliver.

So here goes. How to do a review of Coachella in few enough words that people other than my family may consider reading it. Amazing? Of course it was. Once-in-a-lifetime? Hopefully not. Crazy? To be expected. It’s going to take a little more than that, folks.

So here’s where I’ll start. And I’ll put it into sections to make it easier for those who don’t like to read.

I’m going to have to admit I overlooked their name when I saw the lineup. There I was, all focused on the hip, new music because I’m a blogger, blah blah blah, but man, never forget about the classics! Boy was I slapped in the face! They were awesome! But, sure enough…I was too excited to be seeing the scenery to stop in one place and really let it soak in. There was running-around-exploring to be done.

Next up: Passion Pit. Now again, while I’m being brutally honest with not only all of you, but also myself, I will admit that I had a little (and yes, I mean little) thing against Passion Pit ever since I saw their MTV Woodie Awards act and was so bored by the main singer’s performance that I wanted to cry. The falsetto that he’s so famous for sounded forced and, quite frankly, terrible. Thus began my little Passion Pit boycott. Boom! Comeback city! Passion Pit lived up to their original standards and were quite a fun band to watch at Coachella this year. Not that I would know, though, because I was too starstruck by the sighting of Whitney Portto be paying any attention to the music. She brushed against my arm. Total girl crush.

Tried to see La Roux, but was turned off by the pushy crowd full of teenagers, so moved over to catch a glimpse of Imogen Heap. Well, I thought it was going to be a glimpse, anyway. Fooled again! My sister and I ended up in the 2nd row, thanks to much nicer fans who realized that we were short and it would not be of any harm for us to be in front of them, and we were able to catch an up-close performance by the ever-adorable “Immy.” Let me just say this, to any and all artists out there: be interactive with your fans. Be honest on stage. You will develop a relationship with your fanbase by doing this, and if it comes off attractively, your fans will feel a deeper connection to you. Imogen Heap was a little late to get on stage, and she was so deeply apologetic about it, and honest about how frantic she was, I’m pretty sure she had the whole audience feeling like her best friend wanting to say to her, “it’s okay! Do your thing, girl!” Well sure enough, she did her thing. Despite some of her audios not working as planned, she pulled off a killer show that ended with the incredible “Hide and Seek,” but of course didn’t exclude another of my favorites, “Between Sheets.”

Oh and another thing: her set was great. She was playing on a glass piano (read: awesome) and brought out a 3D tree decked in lights.

Visual:

Now before I get too carried away and lose all of you, I’ll start narrowing down my opinions. Saw Vampire Weekendfrom afar, they sounded amazing. The instruments sounded great, and Ezra Koenig, their main singer, sounded just as spectacular live as he does on the albums.

Of course I saw Jay-Z, who was stellar, and many of the other headliners.

And of course, let’s cut to my last two favorites of the weekend: Jonsi and Phoenix. Of all the shows over the weekend, my top priority was to see Jonsi. And I must say, it was everything I hyped it up to be. He sounded absolutely incredible. His outfit was amazing (of course he donned some feathers as he tends to do) and he was great on piano and guitar. He emitted great energy when it was necessary, but also carried emotions through his slower songs. The crowd was definitely feeling his mood, if you can’t tell from this photo:

Right after Jonsi left the stage, the crowds really started packing in for Phoenix. And I would venture out to say that the crowds picked the right show to flock! They were really great performers live, and I think a lot of what’s to thank for that is that their main singer knows his limits. It seems he doesn’t try to hit notes that are out of his range, and for this, he sounds terrific live, just as one would hope. They of course closed the show with “1901,” which was extremely fun to dance to.

If you’re a fan of Local Natives, you might like this. Check it out if you haven’t heard it yet. Also wish I had caught Local Natives, though they’re coming to my area soon, so I’m not too bummed. Wish I could have caught Miike Snow, but they overlapped with Jonsi, and I know my priorities. MGMT I saw part of, but their crowds were way worse than La Roux’s. They still sounded good, though. Anyway…enough rambling. Hope you enjoyed the recap, and hopefully you can make it out next year if you weren’t able to this year! I sure hope I can!

Oh and one last bit, which is perhaps one of the most crucial parts of what made the weekend so amazing. The scenery was spectacular. Check out some more photos:

Check out the sunset in what served as my rear view this past weekend:

Or if I actually turned around and looked for myself:

That’s all for now. All songs are downloadable by right clicking and saving the attachment. Enjoy!